Year's End (Episode)
Year's End Synopsis IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME AT THE QUEEN HOUSEHOLD: Oliver (Stephen Amell) discovers that after he and his father went missing, Moira (Susanna Thompson) and Thea (Willa Holland) stopped celebrating Christmas. Determined to make up for lost time and restore a sense of normalcy to the Queen household, Oliver decides to throw the family a Christmas party. Meanwhile, Tommy (Colin Donnell) asks Laurel (Katie Cassidy) to spend Christmas with him but she points out that Christmas was also her sister Sara’s birthday and she needs to be with her father (Paul Blackthorne). Tommy suggests changing things up might be the best way for everyone to heal but Laurel isn’t sure her father is ready for that. Meanwhile, Diggle (David Ramsey) tells Oliver someone is murdering the people on his father’s list with arrows, which sends Oliver off to face his toughest adversary yet. John Dahl Directed the Episode with Story by Greg Berlanti & Marc Guggenheim and Teleplay by Andrew Kreisberg & Marc Guggenheim (109). Summary Adam Hunt is on the phone trying to raise money for a deal despite the fact that he was recently taken down by the mysterious Hood vigilante. Someone comes into the next room and Hunt demands to know what he wants since he's stripped him of his wealth. The intruder shoots Hunt three times in the chest and leaves. As Oliver and Diggle trade, the bodyguard points out that Oliver has taken three of the men on the list out since Helena left. He tells Oliver that he's taking his nephew to the mall for Christmas shopping and Oliver realizes that it's Christmas. He explains that on the island he was too busy trying to survive to keep track of things like holidays, and remembers how his father Robert put Christmas trees in every room of the manor. Diggle tells Oliver that he deserves a break and to go spend time with his family on Christmas. Yao Fei unseals the cave and is surprised that Oliver is still alive. He leaves Oliver a jug of water and a rabbit for food and then hauls Fyers in. Oliver attacks the man who tortured him, and Yao Fei tells him that he can kill the man... or he can use Fyers' plane to escape the island. Oliver returns to the manor and discovers Thea leaving their parents' dinner party. He asks about the lack of Christmas decorations and Thea hesitantly says that everyone was just too busy to bother. Oliver then joins the dinner party where Moira and Walter are hosting several rich and important guests, including Tommy's father Malcolm and Police Commissioner Brian Nudocerdo. They discuss the Hood and whether his actions are justified, and Malcolm suggests that they call him "Green Arrow." Oliver thinks the name is lame, but is interrupted when Walter gets a call from Felicity. He takes it in the other room and she tells him that one of the men on the list is Dr. Doug Miller, the head of Applied Science at Queen Consolidated. Meanwhile, Nudocerdo's aide whispers a message to him and he tells the guests that the vigilante has struck again and killed Adam hunt, his former victim. Oliver fakes a call from a contractor and steps out to take it so that he can make a hasty escape. Quentin arrives at Hunt's apartment and meets with Nudocerdo. The arrows used to kill the man are black and Quentin figures that they're not dealing with the Hood but a copycat. Outside, Oliver listens from the balcony. The next day, Oliver and Diggle try to work out who killed Hunt. Oliver points out the placing of the three arrows in Hunt's chest and figures that the killer is an expert archer. He figures the archer used custom arrows that can be traced and tells Diggle that they'll get one from the police. Oliver then sends a burner phone to Quentin at the station and calls him at it. Using a voice distorter, Oliver tells Quentin that he didn't kill Hun and that he wants to track down the arrow since he can go places that the police can't. Quentin isn't interested but Oliver tells him to call the pre-programmed number if he changes his mind. Walter calls Miller into his office and tells him that security red-flagged him as someone the vigilante might come after. Miller claims that he has no idea why the vigilante would want him. Oliver takes Thea to the diner for the lunch and asks for a straight answer about the lack of Christmas celebration. Before she can answer, Thea's friend Shane Colvin comes in and asks if she wants to hang with him and his friends. She passes, explaining that she's with her brother. After Shane leaves, Oliver returns to the topic and Thea explains that after Oliver and Robert disappeared at sea, no one felt like celebrating Christmas. After that they just kept avoiding it for the next four years. Thea insists that it's fine but Oliver tells her that it isn't. Later, Oliver gathers his family and tells them that they're going to have a Christmas celebration to make up for lost time, since he was the reason they stopped celebrating. Moira agrees and Oliver tells them that he'll handle all of the arrangements. As the family leaves, Walter tells Oliver that he's a good man. Yao Fei leads Fyers and Oliver through the forest, and the mercenary tells Oliver that he can tell that he's a good man, since he suffered torture rather than betray Yao Fei. Fyers asks Oliver what he knows about the man and explains that the island was a prison. The Chinese army kept the prisoners there that were too dangerous to imprison anywhere else. When they shut down the island nine years ago, they sent Fyers and his men in to clean up the place. Only two men remained: Yao Fei and Oliver's torturer, Deathstroke. When Oliver points out that Fyers had Deathstroke terminate him, the mercenary says that he only did it to find the man that killed dozens of his men. Malcolm secretly meets Moira and tells her that Miller reported to him that Walter knows something about the list. He warns Moira that he will take protective steps since the Queens are coming after him. A businessman, Nelson Ravich, is walking home when the archer kills him. Nudocerdo and Quentin arrive sometime later and close the crime scene. They know that the Hood terrorized Ravich into giving up his embezzlement funds a week ago. Nudocerdo tells Quentin to accuse the Hood of the two murders but Quentin refuses, pointing out that it doesn't match the Hood's normal pattern of leaving his victims alive once he gets what he wants from them. The commissioner takes Quentin off the case and leaves, while the detective goes back to the station. After careful consideration, Quentin calls Oliver and tells him that he left one of the archer's arrows at a heating vent. However, he warns the Hood that the vigilante has until Christmas to find the killer or he'll come after him. Oliver recovers the arrow and goes over it with Diggle. They confirm that it's a custom job and that the archer is deliberately trying to call Oliver out. Oliver takes the arrow to Queen Consolidated and asks Felicity if she can confirm the point of origin so he can order more for a friend. She does so and discovers that the company holding the patent on the allow is Sagittarius. Felicity locates the address of the shipment and gives it to Oliver, who wishes her a happy Hanukkah and departs. When Laurel comes home, she finds her father listening to Nudocerdo's press statement on the news. She figures that the Hood isn't the killer, reminding Quentin that the vigilante protected her during the prison breakout. Tommy arrives at the apartment and Quentin rebuffs his attempts to impress him. Laurel reminds Tommy that she wanted to be with her father on Christmas, but he says that Christmas is a time for people to be together, and points out that she's holding something back. When he invites her to the Queen holiday party, Laurel refuses and Tommy gives her his Christmas present and leaves. Quentin complains about how Tommy and Oliver are selfish and Laurel should stay away from both of them. She's surprised and touched to discover that Tommy's gift is an old photo of herself, Quentin, and Sara. Oliver dons his Hood costume and goes to the address that received the arrows. A single black arrow is rammed into a table and as Oliver examines it, the door slams shut behind him. A bomb lights off and begins a countdown, and Oliver blasts the door open with an explosive arrow and gets out just in time. He goes back to the manor where the party is in full swing and tells Diggle what happened. As they talk, Shane comes in with flowers for Moira. Oliver has his family pose for a Christmas party and then Thea goes off with Shane, Moira tells Walter that they'll talk later and goes off. Tommy and Laurel arrive and Oliver goes to greet them. Tommy still think things are weird between Laurel and Oliver and goes off to get drinks. When Walter finds Moira, she reminds him that he promised not to investigate any further. Walter reminds his wife that Robert was his oldest friend and that he had no intention of letting the murderers go free. He asks his wife if whatever she is protecting is worth the lies, and Moira explains that she salvaged the boat to use as leverage against the organization. Walter offers to help fight them but Moira says that she is one of them, and that she hoped Walter's love could save her. He accepts her explanation for the moment and tells her that the time for lies is over, and Moira promises to tell him everything after the party. Laurel and Oliver talk privately and she figures that he's still uncomfortable with the fact that she's with Tommy. Oliver insists that he's fine and Laurel admits that since Oliver was reported death, she hasn't been able to connect emotionally with anyone. She tells Oliver that Tommy is the first person that she has been in five years and Oliver assures her that he's happy for them. Once Laurel leaves, Oliver goes to find Thea and discovers her in bed with Shane. He kicks Shane out and demands to know why Thea is skipping the party. She angrily explains that the party is something he's doing to make himself feel better and that all it's doing is digging up old memories that she'd rather forget. Oliver wonders why she wants to forget and Thea tell him that things will never be what they were between them. As she walks away, Diggle comes in to tell Oliver that the archer has now taken hostages. They tune in the news and discover that the archer has captured five hostages and is holed up at an abandoned warehouse. One of the hostages reads a statement from the archer saying that the time has come for the vigilante to turn himself in. Diggle suggests that the police handle it, but Oliver insists that it's his responsibility and assures his partner that he handled much worse on the island. Yao Fei tells Fyers to radio his people to bring the plane, but the mercenary tells him that the captured him because he wanted them to. Deathstroke and the other mercenaries emerge from the jungle and Yao Fei attacks Deathstroke while telling Oliver to run. Oliver runs off into the forest but turns and looks back as the mercenaries bring Yao Fei down through force of numbers, and then take him away. The police gather outside the warehouse but quickly discover that the archer has booby trapped all of the doors. As Quentin arrives, the police see the Hood slide into the warehouse through a window. Oliver quickly frees the hostages and gets them to the roof, and then goes down to find the archer. The black-clad figure soon finds him and tells Oliver that he lured him out because he knew it would take something dramatic to lure him out. The archer says that he wanted to see who was the better man and then opens fire. The two bowmen duck back and forth through the warehouse and the archer finally puts two arrows into Oliver's back. He tells Oliver that the man who wrote the list wants him dead but prepares to remove his hood first. Oliver stabs his attacker in the leg with one of his arrowheads and the killer limps off while Archer gets out, radios Diggle for help, and then passes out. When Oliver wakes up, he's in the hospital with Diggle at his side. The bodyguard explains that he cleaned up the evidence and carried Oliver away. Walter, Thea, and Moira arrive and Diggle tells them that Oliver was in a motorcycle accident. They're all relieved to see that he's okay and they admit that they weren't at their best during the party. However, they're all there now for Oliver and that's what matter. Thea stays behind to apologize to Oliver for being so hard on him for changing, and warns him that she's not the same person that she was five years ago. They agree to accept each other as they are now and share a hug. Back at his own hideout, Malcolm Merlyn removes the hood of his archer costume. Walter checks in at his office. After taking a call from Felicity, he gets into the elevator and the other passenger injects him with a knockout drug. Moira demands a meeting with Malcolm, well aware that he's had Walter abducted. Malcolm promises that Walter won't be harm and that he will never know that Moira is involved. When she complains, Malcolm reminds her that the Tempest Organization is only six months away from rebuilding the city to their dreams. Moira realizes that Malcolm feels nothing despite the fact that their plans will cost thousands their lives, but Malcolm tells her that he'll feel a sense of accomplishment, while she'll have Walter when it's over. In the hospital room, Oliver admits to Diggle that he failed the city, but the bodyguard reminds him that he saved five lives. He figures that Oliver will capture the archer, but Oliver believes that the person he has to find and take care of is the man who wrote the list. Cast Main Cast Members *Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen *Katie Cassidy as Dinah Laurel Lance *Colin Donnell as Tommy Merlyn *Susanna Thompson as Moira Queen *Willa Holland as Thea Queen *Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance *David Ramsey as John Diggle Recurring Cast Members *Colin Salmon as Walter Steele *Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak *John Barrowman as Malcolm Merlyn *Byron Mann as Yao Fei *Jeffrey Robinson as Deathstroke *Sebastian Dunn as Eddie Fyers *Robert Moloney as Brian Nudocerdo Guest Stars *Brian Markinson as Adam Hunt *David Milchard as Nelson Ravich *Mark Ghanimé as Dr. Douglas Miller *Scott Lyster as Shane Colvin *Paul Boyle as Elite Man *Lisa Marie DiGiacinto as Attractive Woman *Philip Prajoux as Bomb Squad Officer *Ryan Younglao as Delivery Clerk *Elizabeth Weinstein as Female Hostage Notes *Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim Wrote The Story for Episode Nine of Arrow. *Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg Wrote The Teleplay for Episode Nine of Arrow. Trivia *Coming Soon Links *http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2448164/ *http://arrow.wikia.com/wiki/Year%27s_End *http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Arrow_(TV_Series)_Episode:_Year%27s_End *http://www.greenarrowtv.com/arrow-episode-guide-years-end-season-1-episode-9 Episode 09